March was such a whirlwind of all the things, that even though the days were often long, the month seemed to fly by.

As the month has progressed, my yard has truly exploded with life. My iris are blooming, my roses are incredible, and the leaves are suddenly on all the trees. I love going outside and spending time in my garden, and luckily I have had some moments lately (especially because the steroid shot seems to be working and lessoning my pain), that I have been able to actually WORK in my garden. What a blessing, and it brings me such joy.

Another thing that brought me great peace this week, was when Kevin and I went and did a sealing session at the San Antonio Temple. (Our sealer just happened to be our good friend, Don Hilton, who is also the doctor who helped save my life back in July.) While we were doing sealings, Arthur was performing baptisms for his ancestors, which was wonderful for him as well.

This week has been a bit extra crazy at school because of the APEX fundraiser. There are daily challenges, an assembly, and leadership announcements and videos that go along with it.

My class did not have a ton of participation, but they manage to win the principal’s challenge, which meant that at recess, they were able to spray Mrs. Gonzalez with waterguns and color bombs. She was such a trooper!! Wow! And the kids had a blast, although half of them ran over to play soccer before we got the class picture 😂.

Friday was the APEX obstacle course, and I usually run it every year, but this year I was still feeling pretty weak and sick from my chemo. One of my students, sweet Lily, told me that she would walk it with me, and so we did it. At first I couldn’t hold myself back from running, and not only did she call me out on it – ha ha – but so did my body, so we walked most of it. It still did me in though, and I had to sit and rest a bit.

After school, I had the most wonderful gift. My big brother Preston was in Houston for a doctor’s appointment at MD Anderson and to watch the college basketball “Sweet 16,” and so he came to San Antonio for the night. Wendy and Tod came down from Austin, and Kevin picked up takeout for the six of us to share. It was such a wonderful evening of talking and catching up. What a blessing!

After Wendy and Tod headed back home, Kevin took Preston to the back yard and played with his golf simulator. He gave Preston a great golf lesson to help with his swing, and then finished it off the next morning by going to to PGA Superstore to test out drivers for Preston to find a good fit for him. Very fun! When they came back, Preston had to head back to Houston, but it was such a fantastic visit!

Right as Preston headed out, I headed to the church for our special Relief Society Birthday Party Tea Party. Tanisha (our activities leader) and my counselor, Kelly, had been planning this for months, and it was spectacular. Wonderful food, great opportunities to talk, an inspiring speaker, and the decorations were incredible. I sat at a table with some of my friends, and I managed to snap a picture of Meagan, Jana and I. We also got a group picture of everyone. So fun!

That night, Kevin and I had our traditional date to the Valero Texas Open volunteers dinner. We had yummy food, a great live concert from a fun 80’s band they get each year called the Spasmadics, and door prizes that we never win. This year, we only stayed an hour, as I was more than beat, but we still had such a wonderful time.

It was definitely a wonderful way to finish off the month of March.